Liefmans Frambozenbier

Formerly brewed at Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Sour Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Pours a deephardly transparent burnt reddish brown with an impressive light tan head. Nice earthy rasberries on the nose with a good shot of an almost stemmy like earthiness. Nice brown sugar, rasperry, light tart acidity, and a decent earthy finish. Great fruit flavor, but subdued enough to not overwhelm.

2005 Bottle, consumed in 2007. lots of carbonation, magenta-ish coloration lots of bubbles, strong raspberry aroma and taste, very refreshing.

Bottle. High creamy and lasting light brown head. Hazy dark brown body. Aroma of raspberries. Flavor of sweet raspberries. Not much sharpness. Low carbonation. Long sweet raspberries aftertaste.

Draught tulip at Publick House on 7/8/07
So if this is unsweetened and the Liefmans Kriek is sweetened, I’m very surprised, as this one seemed significantly sweeter than the kriek...Anyways, it sppears a black raspberry-colored beer, with medium clarity and plentiful carbonation, topped by a rose-tinted beige head that is small but creamy and resilient. Light lacing left behind.
Strawberry/raspberry jam in the nose would not be a far-fetched approximation. Fortunately, some dark malts add light chocolate and raisins and the yeast throws in a touch of oily acidity (acetic mainly). Vanilla and other base malt sweetness is felt as well, with a bit of metallic or mineral-like notes from the berries. Interesting, but I think it gets a bit bogged down in raspberry aroma, despite the authenticity of that note. Medium to medium-high strength of aroma, no flaws.
Flavor is just too sweet for me, to come right out with it. It’s sticky, chewy and very full-bodied, without the attenuation I’d expect in what is supposed to be a Flemish sour base. Definitely some acetic notes arriving on the finish, to somewhat dry things out, with black pepper and currants as well, but it reminds me too much of Duchesse, in that it just isnt remotely "sour". Not even "tart". Just a bit of bitterness from the raspberries, a touch of acetic acid and then tons of raspberry jam, and chocolate-vanilla sweetness. Maybe it just dosent work as well on draught? On the positive side, the carbonation levels are always perfect at the Publick House, so that helped moderate some of the sweetness.
From the looks of the ratings, I should probably find myself a slightly aged bottle and give it another try.

This is delicious tangy beer. It Pours with a massive head that has real staying power! It has a slice a of sweetness with a whipped topping of bitterness with a side of tang! A lot of different flavours going on in this brew... Overall, a good buy but maybe it needs more ...funk perhaps, i don’t know but it needs something... but i did enjoy it! ’shared with The Capitol City Goofball’

aroma is pleasanly yeasty with fresh raspberries. Flavor is lovely. Semisweet. Lots of raspberry - not much more than that. Not really sour or super tart. My ideal lambic has some bite to it, but this is nice - real natural.

375 ml bottle @ Kristiansand Lambic festival. Dark red, almost brown body with a pink head. Aroma is fruity raspberries. Flavor is fine, balanced sweet, acid and fruity. Fine, not extraordinary.

Tasted 2007-07-23. Fresh bottle, 37,5cl. Looks like the kriek; A mix of pink and brown with white head. Aroma of raspberries. Ditto taste. The taste lacks a bit of that acid-power-kick the kriek has. All in all very good!